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India Halts All Food Imports From Japan After Fukushima Fish Found With Excess Radioactivity
After dumping thousands of tons of radioactive water in the sea, Japan appears to have been stunned to find that the radioactive content of various fish has surged and is now above just imposed radiation safety thresholds. From Kyodo: "Japan hastily set a legal limit Tuesday for the permitted level of
radioactive iodine in seafood as safety concerns spread overseas in the
wake of continuing leaks contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean from
the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The limit of 2,000 bequerels per kilogram set by the Ministry of Health,
Labor and Welfare for radioactive iodine in marine products such as
fish and shellfish is the same as that already adopted for vegetables,
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a press conference. The imposition of the limit followed the detection by Japanese
authorities 4,080 bequerels per kilogram of radioactive iodine in young
sand lance caught Friday off Kitaibaraki in Ibaraki Prefecture, which
prompted the health ministry to consider setting a limit for fish and
clams. Different young sand lance, also caught near Kitaibaraki, were found to
be contaminated with 526 bequerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium,
exceeding the legal limit of 500 bequerels already set by Japan." And now that Japan has another crisis scenario fall out to deal with, other countries no longer have faith that Japan has any control over the situation and are imposing complete bans on Japanese food imports: first India, and soon everyone else. Expect sushi prices to surge momentarily.
From Kyodo:
India said Tuesday it will suspend food imports from Japan for about three months to prevent food contaminated with radioactive substances leaked from the crisis-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant from entering the country, Press Trust of India news agency reported.
Specific food items subject to the suspension were not immediately disclosed, but marine products and fresh fruits are expected to be among them.
India's health ministry said the import suspension will last until it can obtain reliable data proving that the levels of leaked radioactive substances are safe, according to PTI.
Not to be outdone, Japan once again has proven it is completely clueless, and is dealing with the catastrophe in the only way it knows - denial:
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano dismissed the need for an immediate ban on shipments of marine products from the affected areas, but he pledged to toughen inspections to ensure that contaminated products do not reach markets.
The government will make further efforts to provide sufficient information to other countries through diplomatic channels regarding its efforts to contain the leak of radioactive substances from the plant, the top government spokesman added.
Given that radioactive substances exceeding safety limits have only been found in a small number of samples so far, Edano said, ''We want to proceed by monitoring (contamination) closely and grasping the broader situation rather than immediately regulating'' shipments.
And while the diplomatic wrangling over who is right and who is wrong is about to spike in earnest, Japan can kiss its fishing industry goodbye, as well as scrap food exports for the indefinite future.
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"Animal House" movie quote- see my character picture. A little humor is needed with a bad situation...
That's what I thought, hence my wording.
haha
"Let him go, he's on a roll"
"Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"
"Forget it, he's rolling"
Actually I think China is going to repo DC.
Those damn Stukas did a number on the Arizona.
Sell Guam before it capsizes.
Good one! I used to shoot Magpies in the high Sierras. They are quick and high.
I needed a laugh amid the collusion
Thx
Quote found on voxy.co.nz: No need for concern over imported vehicles
'The NZ Transport Agency says it is confident that relatively small number of vehicles imported from the area around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan since the devastating earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011 will not be contaminated with radioactive material.'
That's all right then. But out of how many?
Tokyo U marine biologist was just pointing out on NHK that the number of sampling points off the coast is very small and that the contaminated water is shifting to the south.
On a positive note the leak at the 'pit' is plugged. Problem is it could be ( and probably is if you've ever dealt with underground water leaks) migrating to a new route to the sea. If there is a path the water will find it ( or make it) and 7 tons per minute of water ( almost 2000 gallons ) is quite a leak!
Great news, sangell, but if the leak is plugged, that means they will put it in a holding tank until they dump it in the ocean? What am I missing?
I thought i knew a few want-a-be intellectuals and its no better then burning yourself alive to lite a cigarette.
Some dont want to know or even care to know. Unless it spoils their day; like the rain.
Did this happen in Brittan, spain and rome?
Your my Frankenfurter in an apron!
Will eating the radioactive fish make my teeth gold? I do think so indeed. Lots of gold.
Go Scuba Diving and you will surface with a mouth full of diamonds.
*Someone* gets to win (at least a little) no matter how bad the disaster. It may be a few years before the Great Australian Byte and the Southern Ocean get too "hot" ....
Looks like it might be payoff time for some farsighted people who have spent millions getting this far:
http://www.cleanseas.com.au/main/home.html
http://www.cleanseas.com.au/uploads/pdfs/investor-information/Tuna_Spawn...
If CleanSeas can get production levels up to the point they can provide for these guys (and others)
http://www.samstuna.com.au/tuna_ranching.html
They should be doing quite well.
How do you prevent rain.
No all life all soil all things. Its a small rock and now we all have to take a big bite of this radioactive crap.
I actually looked up half-life today since so many articles referred to it. From my reading it means that at x days y effects are half what they were in z days. What about reporting at what happens after half life? Is it linear? Why did we adopt this scale? Wouldn't it make more sense to report on "zero" for radiation exposure?
Edit: Cool video game - AHL - after half life.
ROFL...nature has been preventing significant rain in these parts of Australia for millenia :)
A generalised understanding of the hemispherical division of global wind flows and the nature of global ocean currents indicate that it will likely be some time before significant radioactivity reaches the Great Australian Bight and the Spencer Gulf in particular. What rain does exist in the areas around the Spencer Gulf ...not a lot of it makes it into the sea. We humans already drink it or sprinkle it on crops.
I'm not saying none of the radioactivity will reach Australia...I don't know that (and doubt it). But, I suspect the southern coast of Oz just might be one of the last places to get it and will likely get less of it than many other places.
If we can just get that West Antarctic ice sheet to stay in place for a few more centuries... :)
Apparently the Saudies can in fact make rain! Some thing about ionizing towers in the desert.
I created a new method for the people of Japan to detect radiation on their food supply. As of today there are still no views in Japan after submitting the video to Japanese newspapers, companies, Cannon, Sony, Mitsubishi etc. Why would the Japanese government not want the people to see this video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6Q7VfWdgEg
Very good! Let's hope yort video makes it to Japan...
That is very cool, brother. I advise you submit your idea to the ex-skf blog. The guy is one of us and posts under nick of 'Lapri'. He also has a japanese blog. Perhaps he would translate your video into Japanese for you if he likes the idea.
Here is the link:
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/
This is great! Where did you get the scintillation plates?
My local sushi place had to change their menus as two of their specialty rolls were called:
Nuclear Roll
Tsunami Roll
^ Nice
Seriously?
Need help translating Pre-Tepco-Tuna and Pre-Sendai-Salmon to Indo-Aryan for export promotion.
Don't worry, they say they've successfully plugged one crack.
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/04/fukushima-i-nuke-plant-tepco-says.html
all this talk about "fixing" the reactors and no one brought up JB-WELD! wtf! if it can fix and seal a tractor's engine block surely it can seal a reactor crack.
And the picture of the "crack" which still looks like a regular drain hole to me.
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/04/fukushima-i-nuke-plant-more-on-pit-th...
A finger in the DIKE?
The thing most people don't seem to understand is that Japan since WW2 has been a colony of the U.S. They have an infrastructure of Business, Finance, Government, Military, etc.. that is designed to succeed in that environment. Protected, insular, corrupt, in a manner that will create wealth, prosperity, stability within the context of meeting U.S. needs. They haven't been swimming with the sharks, all on their own, having to develop flexibility of thinking, dynamism, a combination of military power and a sane way of using it to stay semi-independant. All they've done is snooze into efficient manufacturing to keep the status quo. They don't have an organization within their politico-business hierarchy/bureacracy that can react effectively to sudden dramatic threat/change.
I think there is going to be change- maybe revolution there now.
They don't have an organization within their politico-business hierarchy/bureacracy that can react effectively to sudden dramatic threat/change.
It hasn't been all too clear since Katrina that we have that capability either. One wonders what the plan is if Indian Point or Diablo Canyon experience a similar crisis.
True, I was looking at the U.S. with the same perspective after I posted. If the TeeVee told everyone it was just a little leak and wouldn't effect them, would we be able to organize, act?
Yes, exactly. Would we? One thing seems clear: we would be foolish to rely on the government.
One wonders what one would do if a similar thing happened in one's own neighborhood though. I'm a very prepared person when it comes to many shtf events, but this.... no... I would be similarly screwed if this happened within 50 miles of my house.
How much plutonium do you think has made its way into the food chain as well? With a shelf life of 200k+ years that ought to pose a slight problem, wouldn't ya think? And you wonder why another TEPCO official breaks down crying? The situation is much worse then we could ever imagine and getting worse by the minute. When the spring trade winds shift and bring the rain and radiation inland, look out below. So far they have been able to divert much of the disaster into the ocean however they are on borrowed time. Things should start getting a bit panicky in about 3 weeks time.
the next tsunami
will be radioactive....
Expect the the USFDA will say Japanese seafood is perfectly acceptable. Our government only inspects 5% of food entering the country and passes everything. The state of Georgia inspects 95% of all seafood sold in the state and they ban ~90% of seafood from Asian countries because of the presence of high levels of toxins. Do look for the USFDA to come down hard on U.S. cherry farmers for saying their product is healthful. For more outrageous behavior of the FDA check out http://naturalnews.com.
Tyler,
Tepco offers average of $12 per person to fallout stricken towns
http://www.japan.org/archives/1374
Forecast atomic cloud Fukushima until 8th April
http://www.mmnews.de/index.php/etc/7487-geigerzaehler-tokio-live-geiger-...
Arnie Gunderson's on CNN. Just said cesium-137 will affect seafood for 25 years.
USDJPY
http://www.zerohedge.com/forum/99er-charts-0
I'm short again. But then again I got long gbp/jpy @ 127.4. Added and set a hedge. Rode it down with the usd/jpy fukishima news. And cut the shorts. Just net long with some adds about 100 pips south. Let them ride if they get hit and add.
Radiation forecasts for April 6th & 7th
For Japan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrMvEEgirYA
and for the US: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYK5ukMarsU
Those forecasts look great with your specs.
Thanks Danny. looks like we're setting up for another "mysterious radioactive cloud" (ooops, I meant radioactive cloud) that'll have the RADNet meters chirping like it did around March 28 moving into Alabama and Western Florida.
I'd be starting to measure Cs137 content in any post-Katrina shrimp, boys. Don't stay in a hotel too high up in Destin, either!
Don't worry too much about Cesium-137, it only has a biological half-life in humans of about 70 days (even though it has a physical half-life of 30 years), and you can always take Radiogardase (pills containing Prussian Blue) which binds the Cesium and flushes it out of your intestines. I would suggest you chase that with a good Sake....I would recommend Garyubai.
Relabel it 'prime' from a safe exporter, and send it to North Korea as aid....only the good stuff goes the regime, right?
can't the Bernak print sushi??
Radioactive Rice Paper. Available in 1-3 notes. It gets crispy, and crumbles after that. AKA Yield Curves!
Thanks for the radiation forecasts.
I can see a good investment for those who are smart. Sometime in the near future people are going to think twice before vacationing near the west coast because of fear of radiation in the pacific. Some already have a bad taste from the gulf. The east coast will soon be the place "to be"! Think about it. Atlantic real estate the next boom?
After stocking the prep containers with 10 cases of canned pre-Tepco tuna and pre-Sendai salmon over the past 2 weeks, today I brought home 2 fresh-frozen Viet Nam "swai fillet" at GF's request. These could have come from anywhere as far as I know, flown over in the last week, perhaps also freshly contaminated. That's the last asian fish I'll ever buy.
I just shorted WTI. A couple smalls. The RSI is way over bought on short term charts and the stochastic is heading down. This is a short term trade through Europe.
Confidential report on Fukushima as intercepted by NYTimes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/06/world/asia/06nuclear.html?hp
Wow, that is some serious poop. Thanks.
Y'all should read this one peeples.
Crumbs.
Since when is the NYT confidential?
Already the Frack chem king, and king of shit food to our troops, Halliberton is now probably thinking about going to the Jap coast and picking up all that fish that no one wants (before it all dies) and sell it to the chem companies who will then pass it on to you, me and the kids. Shit Jethro, that company so fuckin smaahhht... there just as much money in the bait and switch food biz than their is in poisoning people and war.... Honey we have to buy stock in Halliburton, that's right, I 'm one fuckin insane investor... what the fuck do expect in a country where Charlie Sheen is selling out... nuked tomatoe fight anyone ? Let me go on... a country where the dumber you are as a bimbette commentator, the better the ratings.... a country that is so fucking morally and financially bankrupt that millions are just turning away, wincing at what we face...
Wow, i thought americans were stupid sheeple...what does that make the japanese who are just sitting there and getting screwed deeper and harder with each passing day?
frightened. desperate.
http://bit.ly/henAhv Tokyo Electric in the race to zero....new 51 year low and the Japanese Nuclear crisis news....while the Japanese Ministry of Disinformation is still in Denial..
So you're saying it's worse than Hiroshima and Nagasaki...
Yup. The water-leaking pit was the "tail" that wagged the dog, and the dog turns out to be .. back to the Reactor 1. TEPCO is injecting nitrogen into Reactor 1 containment vessel.
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/04/fukushima-i-nuke-plant-tepco-to-injec...
The worry here is that seawater, in the presence of high levels of radioactivity, can produce hydrogen. It is my understanding that this was an NRC recommendation, and that they will be doing it on reactors 1,2 and 3. In my mind this is not related to the "leak," but to a problem that is seen as slowly building with the injections of seawater, the radiation, and the varying water levels. To ignore it would be to risk an inter-containment hydrogen explosion.
Any comment on the NYTimes discussion of the NRC report? Several items to chew on there.
Just the weight of the water is putting the containment vessels at risk, according to the article. Plus aftershocks.
Pool at unit 4 said to have ejected material
Some material ejected up to a mile away; some fell between buildings and was bulldozed out of the way
Fuel slumps, melt on vessel floors (seems to be saying)
Possibly no water getting to fuel at Unit 1 due to salt buildup
I dunno. Not sure I want to read it again. Somebody leak the source document, that might actually help!
Well, Jim, the article is not very reassuring. Containment vessels are designed to be fully-loaded on a temporary basis during transient conditions, but, in my experience, nobody was figuring in potentially large aftershocks after a 9.0 earthquake. Typically, reactor vessels have a low center of gravity, but when full, that center rises above the half-way point of the vessel, and ground accelerations can cause serious stresses on the lower attachment points.
Pool 4 materials ejected. Well, that means that they think the hydrogen explosions may have caused more damage than I thought. What this boils down to is a serious cleanup problem.
Fuel melts are serious, but if they stay in the containment, are livable.
I do not think salt buildup will work out to be that difficult a problem. Yeah, there is crystal encrustations going on, but if they have switched to freshwater, I think a lot of that can be washed out. Maybe.
The most worrisome thing to me is the need for nitrogen purges. It brings up the possibility of hydrogen explosions inside the containment. This could be very serious. I think it is unlikely, due to a lack of likely ignition sources, but as a possibility, it must be dealt with.
NOTE: I posted this earlier on a dead post, and since it partially involves me correcting my own possible errors, I wanted to re-post it. It was written to Jim, and he had a cogent response that is also worth reading.
Jim:
I have been working with a friend of mine to try to establish some numbers on fuel loads/spent fuel/aging and so on to come to some kind of conclusion on the amounts of contaminants that may have been released to date. We simply can not come up with anything that approaches a reasonably accurate estimation. For one, nobody knows how much the fuel assemblies in each reactor have become uncovered, I have heard possibly 70% on one reactor, and anywhere from 20% to 40% on the others. As you know, this is a critical element of determining fuel damage.
Second, even if the uncovering where known, accurate temperatures in the vessels is a must, and there is no accurate data we could find on units 1,2 and 3.
Third, the frequency and duration of the venting cycles, and the pressures existing during the venting cycles, and, the state of uncovering of the rods previous the cycles is not available (I could not find it).
Finally, how much of the emitted contaminants were released in the air, and how much may have been released in liquid form. Don't know.
Right now I am going through the NRC documents where export approval was sought for the Fukushima unit's refueling. The amount of Uranium Oxide shipped for each reactor does not jibe with what I have been led to believe is the actual fuel loading, and the percentage that is typically cycled out during a normal refuel.
A lot of the same data above is lacking for the spent fuel pools as well....particularly uncovering, temperatures, dry duration, etc.
So, I see no way of coming up with anything but a wild guess.
On another note: My friend pointed to data that showed that I may have been incorrect in assuming transient criticality is still going on. One, the detection of Tellurium-129. Tellurium has a half-life of 69 minutes, but, it also exists as tellurium-129M...the "M" standing for metastable, which has a half-life of about 34 days before transforming into lower energy tellurium-129. So, this material would still be around for that length of time - left over from normal reactor operation. (It also appears now that Tepco is backing off their detection of Tellurium).
Also, he states that the detection of Iodine-131 (half life 8 days) is also not proof of any form of re-criticality, since one would expect about 10% of it to be left after 20 days.
Just some more info to think about.
They're almost finished dumping the 11,500 tonnes of "less" radioactive water into the sea. Now they can begin pumping the estimated 60,000 tonnes of water in the basements of reactors 1,2 and 3 into the ....wait....
*sigh*
TEPCO claims to have stopped the "leak," or stopped the unintentional discharge of highly radioactive water into the sea; meanwhile they are intentionally discharging highly radioactive water into the sea. See, that's progress to be proud of.
We'd better get used to it because they're not done dumping if they don't get a bunch more water storage capacity on site real soon.
No matter what angle you view this from the logistics are a nightmare. Apparently the storage capacity they've freed up by dumping this supposedly low level radioactive water (funny how they never give any figures for that...just "low level") is in a building containing a water treatment plant of some sort. NHK indicated it was the southernmost large building in the complex...just south of reactor 4.
If the estimate of 60,000 tonnes (I'm assuming metric tonnes) of highly radioactive water in the basements of 1, 2 and 3 is accurate, how are they going to pump that water out from under those buildings and get it all the way to the other end of the complex? Firehoses? We're talking 15.85 million gallons. Which is also interesting because they've only freed up space for 3 million gallons. What are they planning to do with the other 12.8 million gallons?
I can see why so many major disasters end up in the hands of the military. The military mindset is used to making unthinkable choices when it means dodging even worse choices. And someone better be making some real decisions really soon.
Just for reference, typical oil storage tanks you see near refineries and fuel depots probably average 500,000 gallons capacity. I don't know what the capacity of that fishing barge they've talked about pulling up on site is, but I struggle to believe it will hold 24 or 25 of those typical oil tanks. And it's not even left the shipyard yet...they're still cutting bulkheads out of it.
Any way you look at it, it seems quite likely a whole lot more radioactive water is going to end up in the sea.
Edit: Did some digging. The mega-barge is anticipated to hold 10,000 tonnes of water once they get it on site. That takes care of 21,500 tonnes of our total 60,000 tonnes of highly radioactive water. I'll give you three guesses where the rest is going to end up....
The Germans put a limit of 600 bequerels per kilo before the Fukushima "incident" far less than the 2000 http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2011/0401/Radioactive-boars-in-Germany-a-legacy-of-Chernobyl
I'm more inclined to take their (Germans) safety standards than the japs, I have a feeling if US had the accident the import standards would be far more stringent.
a little good news. The US Marines get the job done. I salute to them for their hard work.
The Marines say they cleared about 2,000 tons of debris in 5 days.
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/06_26.html
Great. Still a few more tons to go.
"The environment ministry says the massive March 11th earthquake and tsunami left the 3 hardest hit prefectures under some 24.9 million tons of building debris."
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/06_14.html
Perhaps the Japanese should patent radioactive fish - using a Geiger counter on them could breach intellectual property or amount to industrial espionage. Maybe they should market self-cooking fish - you buy them, and by the time you get home, dinner is already cooked! Yall aren't thinking outside the box. There have to be ways to profit from this.
Good News Everyone!
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014693490_nukemonitors0...
FUKUSHIMA, Japan, April 6, Kyodo
The village of Iitate near a crippled nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture plans to evacuate pregnant women, toddlers and babies amid a growing doubt among villagers about the government's radiation safety instructions, village officials said Wednesday.
The mayor of the nearby city of Minamisoma, however, urged the Fukushima prefectural government to help lift an indoor evacuation order being imposed on part of the city.
In Iitate, about 40 kilometers southwest of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, about 50 pregnant women, children aged 2 or younger and their guardians plan to leave for the capital city of Fukushima next Wednesday or later even though most parts of the village are outside any evacuation zone set by the government.
A village official said radiation readings seen in prefectural monitoring in Iitate have been higher than other locations. ''We judged the evacuation as necessary to allay concerns,'' the official said.
Meanwhile, Minamisoma Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai apparently asked Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato during a meeting to urge the government lift the current order that some of the residents stay indoors.
''We want the same treatment to be given to the whole of Minamisoma city. My request strongly suggests the cancellation of the (indoor) evacuation direction,'' Sakurai told reporters.
The mayor has posted an English-subtitled message on the YouTube video-sharing website saying the government's directive has made the daily lives of residents extremely difficult.
After the March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima plant and led to radiation leaks, the Japanese government ordered people within a radius of 20 kilometers to evacuate and those within a 30-km range to stay indoors or ''leave voluntarily.''
The International Atomic Energy Association warned that readings of radioactive material in soil samples in Iitate were twice the level of its criterion for evacuation. But the Japanese Nuclear Safety Commission doubts the IAEA data will pose an immediate danger to human health.
==Kyodo
Meanwhile, as the children and expectant mothers effectively flee government disinformation....The Coulter Syndrome or Coultergeist rears its head...
http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2011040600642
Japan May Raise Annual Radiation Dose LimitTokyo, April 6 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano hinted Wednesday that the government may raise the legal annual radiation exposure limit in anticipation of prolonged radiation leaks at the quake-crippled nuclear plant in northeastern Japan.
"The existing limit was set to ensure safety when exposed to large amounts of radiation in short periods of time," Edano said.
"The government is now examining the risks from long-term exposure to radioactive substances and trying to figure out what level of radiation would be an appropriate standard for evacuations to ensure safety," he said.
The annual exposure limit is currently set at one millisievert for an adult.
Although radiation levels have recently been falling around the nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture, cumulative radiation doses surpassing 10 millisieverts have been detected at a site outside the area in which residents have been told to stay indoors.
(2011/04/06-16:41)
In other words, they think that if they deny forever -- it will all go away...
..or, they can maintain the status quo and civil order --
BTW thanks for the reply on the old thread:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/fukushima-radiation-literally-charts
I can work with that but ain't sure I want t know what a 1% loss might "rule-of-thumb" to even if 90% (say) fell quickly into the Pacific. I'll do it after dinner and another beer.
I need to re-read that NTY article again about water possibly damaging containment. Looks like my 'gravel it' idea in the forums wont work, maybe with a granite substitute that's lighter...
Thanks again, you, me and Lapri(madonna) are on 120° meridians (more or less) so apolges if replies look disjointed.
The NY Times summary of a confidential US NRC report from overnight indicates that pool 4 is in worse shape than I indicated just a few hours previously. New information confirms an explosion, states that material was ejected up to 1 mile away and that material from pool 4 fell between buildings and was pushed aside by bulldozer. No quantification of release but not good.
Article is up above and in Tyler's 'Frontrunning' post for this morning.
Thnks JIm I'llbe there momentarily.
Oh look - my SDIN just decided to throw a wobbly -- my day is cmplete..
NHK news showing video and still pics with all the damaged units still steaming/emitting. Hadn't seen that in a couple days.